Ski-season perfection in Queenstown

Queenstown offers some of Australasia's best skiing and snowboarding. Photo / Supplied

Dawn in Queenstown. Lake Wakatipu lies like a mirror in its frame of mountains; a skein of fog drifts across the flanks of Walter Peak, which rises in a perpendicular wall on the far side of the lake. The Remarkables — a perfect name for this range of sheer, shattered mountains — look close enough to touch. I brew a coffee and walk out on to the deck of our rented cottage. The air is so cold it hurts to breathe in. But this clear July day will be perfect for skiing.

There are four of us here in Queenstown for our annual ski week. I'm with my wife Linda, an expert skier, and our daughters Lydia, 17, and Emma, 14, both enthusiastic beginners. As a snowboarder, I'm the odd one out. To me, snowboarding is way cooler than skiing, an opinion not shared by my family who mock me relentlessly about mid-life crises and "old guys trying to look cool".

By 9.15am, we are on the slopes of Coronet Peak. It is a Tuesday morning so the queues are short. While my wife sets off in search of some killer runs and the girls attend a ski school lesson I spend an hour or so warming up on the Big Easy run. I've always found it useful to do a few simple runs at the start of each day to remind my muscles what they're in for.

Located only 20 minutes from Queenstown, Coronet Peak offers some of Australasia's best skiing. With 280ha of skiable terrain, 70 per cent of which is suitable for beginner and intermediate skiers, it's a great field for family skiing holidays.

Once I have my confidence up, I ascend the express chair to the summit. At 1649m, I am perched in the centre of a 360-degree panorama of snow-clad ranges. To the west, range after range of snow-encrusted mountains rolls back towards Mount Aspiring, which crouches in a dazzling sky rimmed with high cirrus clouds.

For me, ski fields aren't just about sliding downhill on snow. I also like to watch the other skiers and snowboarders, take photographs, admire the views, listen to music and sip copious amounts of latte. And if I can fit in a few runs on my snowboard as well, all the better. I descend the mountain via the long M1 trail — 2.1km of easy turns and gentle straights — beneath white sprays of frozen mist arching from the snow guns.

The following day, we tackle The Remarkables ski area. In a sunny basin on the northern end of The Remarkables range, this field offers a similar amount and type of terrain as Coronet Peak. With 215 snow guns in place, The Remarkables has reliable snow throughout the season. Extensive new base facilities and an enlarged beginner's area have recently been completed.

After my customary warm-up session, and some practice rides down the easy Alta Green trail, I take the Shadow Basin chairlift which terminates beneath a fang of rock high up under the rim of the range. A short walk uphill leads to The Lookout. Perched on the top of a precipitous drop, I look out across the Wakatipu Basin. The lake stretches west deep into the mountains of Fiordland; the sprawl of Queenstown looks Lilliputian from this height.

My descent from The Lookout is less than graceful. Halfway down, the edge of my snowboard snags an icy projection and I tumble face first into a snowdrift. Emerging, yeti-like, from the drift, caked in snow and with my goggles askew, I don't present an immediate appearance of old guy coolness. But soon I am back on easy terrain, sliding sideways in the sunshine down the Catwalk run which leads back to the base facilities and a nice latte. Midweek brings a snowstorm. Cold rain sweeps up the lake on the heels of a brisk southerly wind and the mountains are shrouded in opaque, slate-coloured cloud.

Coronet Peak has ample facilities for beginner and intermediate skiers. Photo / Miles Holden, NZSki

A rest day is always a good idea during a ski holiday, so we spend the day exploring Queenstown. There are plenty of warm cafes to choose from, and shops where the kids can spend their holiday money. By late afternoon the storm has passed. As the sky clears to duck-egg blue, the mountains are revealed again, thickly coated with fresh snow.

We return to The Remarkables field on Thursday. The freshly groomed snow is superb and a surprising number of people have obviously taken the day off work to enjoy it. I spend the day honing my snowboard skills on the runs serviced by the Curvy Basin chairlift, stopping periodically to sip coffee and people watch.

Our week of white magic comes to an end on Friday afternoon. After a day of superb skiing and boarding, we all meet at the summit of Coronet Peak.

The sun has dipped behind the western ranges. The sky has taken on the pink and mauve glow typical of a winter evening in the South Island mountains. A languid full moon hangs over the distant Maniototo Basin; the beginnings of a hoar frost is coalescing in the shadowy valley of the Shotover River gorge.

My family sets off down the M1 trail but I linger for a while. Once again, the air is brittle with cold. The snow machines, like yellow-clad sentinels, send out their arches of white mist. To the south, a hovering bank of cloud promises more snow to come. I check my bindings, turn sideways and slide off downhill.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Air New Zealand and Jetstar both fly several times daily between Auckland Queenstown.

Further information: See nzski.com.